DAVID BURNS, "New Paintings," Sept. 7 – 23, 2006, Diane Farris Gallery, Vancouver
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"Sunset from Wilson Creek"
David Burns, "Sunset from Wilson Creek," 2006, oil on canvas, 36" x 48".
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"David Burns at Lion's Bay"
David Burns at Lion's Bay.
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"Sunset from Wilson Creek"
David Burns, "Sunset from Wilson Creek," 2006, oil on canvas, 36" x 48".
DAVID BURNS, New Paintings
Diane Farris Gallery, Vancouver
Sept. 7 – 23, 2006
By Beverly Cramp
It takes courage for a serious artist to paint a sunset and brave the inevitable accusations of kitsch and sentimentality. It’s a challenge that abstract-painter-turned-landscape-artist David Burns tackles head on. “There’s a reason we stop and look at sunsets,” he says. “They have a lot of power.”
Burns doesn’t actually paint sunsets — rather, he favours the last lingering moments of the day when the setting sun shifts the spectrum to the neutrals of dusk. It’s the effect of the light that holds Burns’ interest. “There’s an endless array of subtleties, as the dark green ocean changes to dirty pinks and back to green and blue,” he explains.
Avoiding kitsch is made easier for Burns because his recent work is minimalist in approach, employing evanescent brush strokes and colours. He uses oil paint almost like watercolour, thinning down the layers of paint with alternating solvent washes. The number of applications varies. Sometimes he finds magic right away; other times he keeps layering until a creative accident happens to bring the painting to life. “There are easily ten layers before I’m happy,” he says. Faint drip lines remain in some of the paintings and the hard edges of dried solvent are occasionally evident.
Burns’s quiet seascapes are far removed from the neo-expressionist canvases he first began producing as a student at Concordia University in Montreal. Those early acrylic paintings were vibrant and intense in colour. “I have a memory of going to Expo ’67, seeing a Rothko and being impressed with it,” he recalls. “Growing up, I was exposed to lots of abstract art in Montreal. The abstract aesthetic is very normal for me.”
In 1987, Burns moved to British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast where he “did the artist-in-the-bush thing — lived in a log cabin and raised some kids.” From his beachfront home, Burns developed a profound attachment to the ocean. The Sunshine Coast was also where he met abstract expressionist artist Don Jarvis and spent time in Jarvis’s studio. These influences initiated a gradual and prolonged change in Burns’s art. Colours became more restrained and his penchant for abstraction slowly gave way to more recognizable forms. Since moving to Vancouver several years ago, he has concentrated on painting the coastal vistas of the Gulf Islands and Howe Sound. Although his seascapes are minimalistic, he explains, “it’s important for me to include some geography. I want to have that locating aspect.”
Now Burns says his main goal is to use paint to capture his feelings about the landscape. “For me, the environment is so powerful. In my work, I want to capture the world the way I’m experiencing it.” He approaches this aim without cynicism. “My journey to paint landscapes is about overcoming a lot of stereotypes. It’s about capturing light — and capturing the beauty and majesty I feel when looking at the ocean and sky.”
Represented by: Diane Farris Gallery, Vancouver.
